CITY IMPROVEMENT

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 93, 14 January 1936, Page 8

CITY IMPROVEMENT

Highway Entrance To Wellington

TRAFFIC DIVERSION

Changes Possible With New

Railway Station

(By

Civis.)

There are those who think it wrong that the whole of the motor traffic which enters Wellington from the North Island should be diverted away from the main thoroughfare—Lambton Quay—into Featherston Street an. I Customhouse Quay. This state of things has been brought about mostly through the control of the city elec-trie tramways, which use the junction of Lambton Quay and Featherston Street as a dispatch point. This was quite natural, 'too, in the past, for right opposite this point is l the Lambton railway station, through which many thousands of suburban dwellers pass daily.

The aggregation of traffic at the point where five streets meet (Lambton Quay, Featherston Street, Thorndon Quay. Sydney Street East and Mulgrave Street'), with waiting trams in reserve, brought about the diversion of the incoming motor traffic to Featherston Street, and s'o away from the busy haunts of trade along Lambton Quay and Willis Street. It also prevented people arriving in Wellington by road from seeing an interesting section of the city on entering it. By diverting the traffic up Featherston Street, and so to the more central and southern parts of the city, newcomers missed- the glimpse they would get of Government Buildings, Parliamentary Buildings and grounds, the War Memorial, the Turnbull Library, and other buildings of note in that vicinity.

The Dispatch Office.

There is no reason why this should be; or, at least, there will be no legitimate reason in the near future. One of the chief reasons for the dispatch tramways office being at the extreme northern end of Lambton Quay is the proximity of the' railway station. That reason will disappear on the completion of the new terminal railway station in Bunny Street. Indeed, it is quite possible that the removal of the'Wilway station activities will have such an effect on the tramway traffic of that end of the city that it may be judicious to change the location of the dispatch office to the junction of Lambtou Quay and Bunny Street (the northern point, of the grounds! of Government Buildings), because, with no Thorndon and Lambton railway stations, the tramway section to Thorndon Quay will be merely an extension of the line in the same sense as that to Wadestown. The major point to be attained, however, is to give drivers of motor-vehicles the option of entering the city either by Lambton Quay or Featherston Street, instead of making it compulsory for them to take the latter route.

The scene at Lambton Station is distinctly unimpressive to visitors. Something needs to be done to brighten up that part of the city. The removal of the drab, depressing, old-fashioned, lowbuilt Lambton Station should be accomplished as early as possible, and in its place the railway authorities should endeavour to make the Featherston Street wing of the new railway station as attractive as possible, as that will be the first building of any size to strike the eye of the visitor to Wellington who arrives by road. Small Reserve Suggested.

Then the back premises of the Government Printing Office, which extend down to the tramways dispatch office at tlie apex of the triangle, require some attention. At present there is there a jumble of single-storied buildings. If part ot’ this land could be acquired for city improvement, and a small reserve or rest park provided, possibly as a frame to some appropriate memorial, the city’s inner gates,would be made more presentable. Nothing can effectively be done until the tramway congestion at the point opposite the Lambton railway station is relieved, amt that apparently can only be done when the new station is completed. By running a track down the Bunny Street siding provision could be made for waiting tramcars, while some day it may be utilised for tlie line 'that will connect Lambton Quay with the new railway station. In the meantime the approaching completion of the new railway station offers at once a solution of the traffic problem, one which will give motorists the right to enter the city by whichever street they please, and it suggests a new sectional junction for the tramways on Lambton Quay, at Bunny Street, rather than at the northern end of Featherston Street and Lambton Quay. (Picture on Page 7.)